Scrapers come in handy for all sorts of chores around the house, but aren’t always as precise as needed. BLADRNR is a small scraper run by an electric motor. Its extra power makes scraping gook off of any surface much easier and certainly more efficient. The video in the campaign shows this scraper on steroids working its magic on a variety of surfaces. One BLADRNR goes for $65 with an estimated delivery date of August 2014. For more slow-mo footage of the tool in action, visit the Web site. BLADRNR hopes to raise $45,000 in its 30-day Kickstarter run.
Author: Julia Herrick
The Premise. Lifting weights at the gym is a fundamental part of a well-rounded workout. Sometimes, however, fatigue hits at the worst time and heavy weights can be dangerous. Falling over or dropping a barbell can cause serious injury to yourself or others around you and no one wants to look like a clutzy dope at the gym.
The Product. The Trojan 3-D Gym is a simple frame that barbells attach to. The exerciser stands in the middle of the frame and lifts the barbell. This fitness guide is designed to follow the movements of the lifter, expanding and contracting automatically. The British creator, David Bean, had three things in mind when inventing this product: replicating a free weight workout experience, increased safety, and quality craftsmanship.
The Pitch. The Trojan’s Kickstarter campaign is rather long and includes some unnecessary information, such as scanned questionnaires from gyms interested in the Trojan. The one thing the campaign does leave out is a detailed description of the Trojan itself and, instead, shows too many letters and documents surrounding its legitimacy in the patent world. The video provides the only real insight into the product’s purpose. It would definitely be helpful to see some sort of diagram or photo of the finished product, instead of blurry photos of the prototyping phases. Trojan hopes to raise £20,000 in its 30-day campaign run.
The Perks. Only backers willing to fork over £2,000 will receive a Trojan with an estimated delivery date of February 2015. Other lower tiers offer a variety of mini-perks with the added option of purchasing the apparatus at cost.
The Potential. The Trojan’s major goal is to replicate using free weights, but in a safer manner. There are several other workout devices out there that use a frame to help guide barbells, such as the PowerLine Power Rack, but not all have the same flexibility and freedom as the Trojan. One major argument against using weightlifting devices in lieu of free weights is that they don’t provide as good of a workout, because stabilizer muscles aren’t used. The Trojan 3-D Gym still requires those stabilizer muscles, but will help fitness buffs workout in a safe and efficient way. Trojan’s pricing is competitive for gym equipment. However, it’s a bit of a burden to lift for the home market at present.
For those who love a coffee on the go, the Latte Lasso allows you to go shopping and tote around your coffee at the same time. This quilted sleeve fits onto any standard coffee to-go cup and has a hook on it. Perfect for shopping carts, the hook hangs onto the cup and cart as you browse. The sleeve comes in several different colors and patterns. Early backers can lasso the Lasso for only $10 on Kickstarter with an estimated delivery date of April 2014. Latte Lasso hopes to raise $1,500 in its 30 day campaign.
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Screener Thing won’t let your garden down
For green thumbers who have a rocky time working in their gardens, Screener Thing offers a solution. This nifty, sifty garden tool is basically a screen framed by wood planks that sits on top of wheelbarrows or buckets. When pouring dirt into the receptacle, the screen catches all of the unwanted rocky or chunky material that lives in the dirt. For $45, backers can rock out with the Screener Thing. The money, rather than the play, is the Thing as it needs to raise $45,000 on Kickstarter in its 45-day campaign.
Computers are great, obviously, but hunching over them all day isn’t. Good posture is hard to achieve when YouTubing it all day. PostureME offers the “most comfortable back support in the world” according to its Kickstarter campaign. This long skinny accessory for your chair offers lower and upper back support and uses ergonomics to achieve its goal without using any high-techery a la the Lumo Lift. While not as stylish as the campaign leads backers to believe, this is still looks like a helpful and reasonably compact comfort aid for the car or office. PostureME has a goal of $10,000 in a 45 day campaign. Early backers can straighten their backs with PostureME for $30. But as cappuccino teaches us, sometimes it’s all about the foam.
Desks these days get cluttered with all of the devices we carry around. SlatePro offers a desk geared towards people who own a laptop, smart phone, tablet and any other new-fangled gadget. The sophisticated workspace has air vents to cool down your laptop, docks for phones and tablets, a built-in mousepad, holes for wires, a place for pens and files and even a cup holder. One SlatePro costs backers $368 and is slated to be delivered by May 2014. SlatePro hopes to raise $12,000 in its 20-day Kickstarter campaign.
The Premise. Working out with music is essential for most fitness buffs. A great song can kick up your energy like nothing else. Unfortunately, armbands that hold music players can interrupt instead of enhance your workout. Wires constantly get caught, yanking earbuds out of your head.
The Product. SpyderGrip is a a sensible alternative to the armband holder, holding music players on the upper back instead of on the biceps. It looks like a small backpack and sits on the upper back while looping around the shoulders. The SpyderGrip is compatible with all Apple and Android music players. The holder is completely sweat- and water-poof. Currently, color choices include black and gray or black and pink.
The Pitch. SpyderGrip’s Indiegogo campaign shows how many prototypes the product went through until it was ready for the market. The video shows a buff gym rat having trouble with his armband while working out and then how much easier using the SpyderGrip is. The creators of this fitness accessory hope to raise $10,000 in their campaign. As addicted to crowdfunding as some of their customers might be to the gym, the creators of SpyderGrip have run two previous campaigns on Kickstarter. The first was unsuccessful in June 2013, but the second reached its goal in December 2013.
The Perks. Two early-bird specials make SpyderGrip available to backers at the discounted prices of $29 and $32 with a choice of either gray or pink. At a regular price, the grip goes for $39. Reward tiers go up to $99 with an estimated delivery date of April 2014. The campaign details several stretch goals which include $17,000 to include an inner pouch and $15,000 to make pink more readily available. The video talks about adding a Bluetooth remote to make volume adjustments and song changes possible, but no stretch goals have yet been set for that addition.
The Potential. Anything that makes a workout look more suave is always welcome. It’s such a pain to be fiddling with earbuds when you’re trying to get your sweat on. Currently, there are few armband alternatives out there, giving SpyderGrip an edge on the market. The added Bluetooth remote will be especially intriguing since the only drawback of SpyderGrip is that changing music is difficult when your iPod is behind you.
The Premise. Dogs make wonderful pets, but messy housemates. Before long, dog toys strewn about the house become tripping hazards and make for some awkward décor. Just like children, it’s difficult, but not entirely impossible, to get dogs to clean up after themselves.
The Product. The Tidy Dog Bin is a multi-purpose training tool for your dog. Its unique sensors allow it to detect its own weight. When the dog adds a toy to the bin, it dispenses a treat, rewarding the dog. The bin is small enough for more compact pooches, but sturdy enough for dogs that look like horses. The product is also smart enough to know the difference between a toy and the dog’s own weights, so it won’t dispense a treat unless an actual toy has been added. The bin looks like a simple dark brown storage box, sleek enough to blend into any standard living room.
The Pitch. The Tidy Dog Bin’s Kickstarter campaign shows the creator’s cute dog using the Tidy Dog Bin in the video, proving that the bin actually does work, at least for a sample of one. The rest of the campaign goes through the prototyping process as well as the manufacturing schedule for the bins. Tidy Dog hopes to raise $20,000 during its Kickstarter run.
The Perks. Tidy Dog offers backers two early-bird specials. The earliest backer can get the Tidy Dog Bin for $49 and the kind of early backer can get it for $69. The later bird can donate $99 for the Tidy Dog Bin. Reward Tiers go up to $129 with an estimated delivery date of November 2014.
The Potential. The Tidy Dog Bin would make Pavlov proud. Who would of thought that cleaning up would make anyone salivate? The pet accessory market offers a slew of toy bins for dogs and cats, but most feature bone or paw print decals that can be tacky and stand out at home. None automatically dispense treats helping to train dogs. It is certainly possible to train dogs to put their toys away, but the Tidy Dog Bin offers a constant, if expensive, reward system that may help ensure the maintenance of this neat habit. Now if only dogs could clean up after some of the other things that they leave behind.
When it comes to bikes, the Dutch are most certainly the experts. Fietsklik, a new product hailing from Amsterdam, is a platform to affix to the back of your bike. It’s unique structure allows you to attach or click different accessories to it such as several different types of bags, crates and child seats. Fietsklik fits on most bikes and makes cycling all the more versatile. A full viewing of this bike tool’s accessories can be found on the Web site, along with a lot of information in Dutch. For $99, backers can get one of two basic packages of the platform itself along with a crate or any bag of choice with an estimated delivery date of July 2014. Fietsklik is looking for $40,000 during its-57-day campaign12.
Recording equipment can be quite expensive for amateur musicians. Now, all you need is a smartphone. The IGI Smart Guitar plugs directly into your smartphone to record music, add effects or process sound. The adapter normally needed for such a thing is built right into the guitar, cutting out the middle man. One IGI Smart Guitar goes for $450 with an estimated delivery date of May 2014. Smart Guitar is hoping to raise $15,000 in its 57-day campaign on Kickstarter but there are other ways to connect an existing guitar to an iOS device. The Facebook page offers fun guitar facts and even funnier pictures of John Mayer.